The Alpha Centauri Expedition

10. Full Moon Stone

"Riz, do you really love me?" she inquired. "I've never heard you say it," she added. Rizki was taken aback and fell silent. He didn't know what to say. He should have been honest and answered, 'Gaya, I love you, but you're not the wife I dream of....' But he couldn't bring himself to say that. Eventually, all he could manage to say was, "Gaya, the answer is in the Moon stone...."

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On the day of the flight to the Moon, Thursday, June 27, 2458, at seven in the morning, all the Bimasakti crew members, except the mission commander, gathered in the briefing room. Gayatri and Rizki met there and tried to act normal. However, Gayatri still made an effort to keep her distance from the AI officers. Rizki also chose to sit not too close to her, and she understood it. But there was still something bothering her. She hadn't had a chance to ask the question she had wanted to ask since Monday, whether Rizki truly loved her. She had to ask before they entered Bimasakti so that her curiosity would vanish, and her concentration wouldn't be disturbed by that question. She couldn't ask inside Bimasakti because the spacecraft was filled with bioscanners. But even in Hangar F, there was no safe location to ask the question as almost every corner was also monitored by bioscanners, and there were several androids guarding the area. Gayatri thought hard, but she couldn't find a safe way to do it.

Shortly after, Commander arrived in the briefing room and immediately gave a brief direction before they started the flight.

"Our mission today is clear... Team One is responsible for the departure from Earth to the Moon, and Team Two for the return from the Moon to Earth. Team One's task is to test the maximum speed of the spacecraft and the deflector. Team Two's task is to test life sensors and quantum cameras. The marines will test the four laser cannons. On the Moon, we will land at Moon I Station to conduct tests on the shuttles and rovers," said Commander.

"Are there any questions...? If not, please proceed with the flight procedures," Commander concluded. Then everyone left the briefing room and headed to the spacesuit changing room. There, rows of compartments stored the spacesuits of the Bimasakti crew. Each crew member had their own compartment to store their spacesuit. Gayatri entered her compartment to change clothes. She had to replace all her clothing with the spacesuit available in the compartment because all astronauts on space missions were not allowed to bring anything except themselves. Before putting on the spacesuit, she had to sterilize her body using the sterilizer provided in the compartment. The device was a kind of ionizer with special UV rays for body sterilization. For a few seconds, the compartment was filled with blue light when Gayatri activated it. She also had to use a special comb to sterilize the inside of her hair. Afterward, she quickly put on the spacesuit hanging in the corner of the compartment. In every space flight, the entire interior of the Bimasakti spacecraft would also be automatically sterilized at intervals using sterilizers installed in each room. This was done to prevent contamination of organisms from Earth at the landing site in outer space when astronauts walked out of the spacecraft.

After about ten minutes, Gayatri was ready with her spacesuit. Before leaving the compartment, she still had the thought of whether there was a chance to express her concerns to Rizki about what was on her mind before they entered Bimasakti. However, she couldn't find any way to do so, so she tried to forget about it. When she opened the door and stepped out of the compartment, she saw Rizki already wearing his spacesuit and waiting for her there.

"Ready, Gaya?" he asked. Gayatri nodded, and a sense of happiness filled her heart. Almost all the crew members had finished changing into their spacesuits and were walking towards Bimasakti. For a moment, she felt the urge to ask him.

"Riz... there's something I want to ask...," but she stopped herself because she realized it wasn't the right place to do so. Rizki could sense Gayatri's uneasiness, and he immediately suspected that it must be about their relationship.